UT Harvest Market Sells Home Grown Vegetables to UT Community

Want fresh produce grown, harvested and sold by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, students? Try the UT Harvest Market which offers a variety sure to tantalize anyone’s taste buds.

A project of the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Organic and Sustainable Crops Unit, the Harvest Market is a farmers’ market operated by five student interns who are interested in farming and farmland preservation. The Harvest Market is open from 2 to 4 p.m. every Friday in the Friendship Plaza of the UT Gardens. It is for the UT campus community.

This is the first year for the Harvest Market, which sells strawberries, green onions, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and other produce grown in the Organic and Sustainable Crops Unit off of John Sevier Highway. The unit, which is run by UT students and faculty workers, has an acre of organic-certified land to grow organic crops.

“The Harvest Market started to provide employment for students on the farm,” said Mary Rogers, research associate for the Organic and Sustainable Crops Unit. “It is also a way for us to promote our program, healthy eating, local food and some of the other farmers’ markets around Knoxville. We’ve learned a lot and continue to improve each week.”

The first market was held in mid-May and sold out of produce. The money made from the market is generated back into the program to support it. Rogers and the students hope to continue to provide for faculty, staff and students every week.

Everyone involved in the Harvest Market thrives off of meeting customers and knowing they are providing for the community.

“The interaction at the market is the best time,” said Grant McCarty, intern coordinator. “We’re finally able to take what we’ve been harvesting that week and actually put it into someone’s hands. We’re able to talk about what we have going on in the program as well as what we’re growing.”